With just under two weeks to go until the transfer window closes, Man City still have a handful of deals that they’d like to get over the line.
Not content with moving forward with what they already have in situ, Pep Guardiola is still looking at ways and means to improve his treble-winning side as they look to defend all of their trophies and perhaps even add to them with the Club World Cup to add to the midweek win in the UEFA Super Cup.
To bring new players in of course the squad needs to be evolved, and to that end, Joao Cancelo will again be allowed to leave on loan.
‘Joao Cancelo only wants to go to Barcelona, this is very clear,’ Fabrizio Romano wrote in his exclusive CaughtOffside Substack.
‘Xavi wants the player, Cancelo wants to go to Barça, and the feeling of all parties involved is that this deal is absolutely advanced, they’re just waiting to fix the structure of the deal.
‘That means the salary coverage, it means the loan fee, it means the buy option – because there is going to be a buy option clause (not mandatory). The negotiation is ongoing.’
It’s no surprise that Cancelo is again looking for a way out after his failed stint at Bayern Munich.
Guardiola appears to have no interest in playing the full-back and the move to Barcelona does both clubs and the player himself a huge favour.
The only potential issue for City moving forward is that the switch looks likely to be a loan with option to buy rather than a mandatory purchase at the end of the loan.
That does give Barcelona room to manoeuvre at the end of the 2023/24 campaign if the player hasn’t lived up to expectations, and will potentially land City back with a player they neither want or need.